Shrek Forever After was supposed to be the final Shrek movie that wrapped everything up in a neat little bow and brought the big, lovable ogre back full circle. He’d fallen in love, gained a best friend, assumed his place in the kingdom of Far Far Away, and eventually had his own family. All should have been well, but unfortunately Shrek fell into the same trap that a lot of married men do, he let the monotony of family life get to him without taking the joy as well. Rumplestiltskin however was all to happy to accommodate his one wish to have never been born, and he did it in a way that made the titular character just a wee bit angry at that.
Here are a few things you might not have known about the film.
10. The Piper was played by a famous jazz flutist.
In fact his father is the guy that wrote the original book that gave life to Shrek.
9. Artie was scrapped altogether.
Justin Timberlake was spotted arriving to the studio and it was thought that his character would make it into the movie, but the scenes were obviously scrapped.
8. Fiona’s hair was modeled after Janis Joplin.
It took 10 years for the CGI technology to catch up to where it needed to be for hair to be a lot easier to produce.
7. Rumplestiltskin appeared in Shrek the Third.
He had a much different look in the third movie and was more of a henchman than an evil genius.
6. One of Rumple’s witches is named Baba.
Those of Slavic/Russian descent might recognize the name since Baba Yaga is essentially the boogeyman in those cultures.
5. The Piper showed up in Shrek.
During the scene in which Shrek emerges from his home to find that all sorts of fairy tale creatures have taken up residence, the Piper shows up briefly.
4. The sign at the entrance to the trailer park is best known from Dante’s Inferno.
It reads ‘Abandon hope all ye who enter here’. This is taken from Dante Aligheri’s famous poem Inferno.
3. Marriage counselors were actually consulted for this movie.
If you recall Fiona and Shrek were have marriage issues in the beginning of the film, so actual marriage counselors were sought out to discover just what might be expected to happen between the couple.
2. This is the only movie where Shrek actually cries.
In the other movies when he gets heartbroken he simply sighs and mopes. In this one however he has children to think about as well. It would take a heartless person to not cry when they realize that their children have no chance to be born because of their selfish act.
1. Mongo was supposed to make an appearance.
The giant gingerbread man from Shrek 2 was supposed to make an appearance but obviously the studio had other thoughts about this and didn’t bother.
There have been talks about another Shrek being in the works but most fans would likely say to let the franchise be. It’s been wrapped up nice and neat and should be considered a well-timed fairy tale.
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